South Korean photographer Myoung Ho Lee does something rather simple—and rather similar to the working process of the late legend Richard Avedon: He separates his subjects from their environments by way of a simple yet formal backdrop. Difference here, of course, is that Lee's subjects are full-blown, full-grown trees, and his 60-by-45-foot canvases form merely part of the photographs rather than filling up the frames. (The backdrops are erected with cranes, ropes, and bars by a production crew—Lee edits out the extraneous supports with digital retouching, creating a floating canvas at the center of each image.) The result is a rather surprising redefinition of the nature of a portrait, the nature of a landscape, and the nature of, well, nature itself.
Tree by Myoung Ho Lee, through April 18, Yossi Milo Gallery, 525 W. 25th St., NYC, yossimilo.com
COREY SEYMOUR Photo: Myoung Ho Lee/Courtesy of Yossi Milo